The Giant Raft · Chapter
XIV: Chance! explained
Public opinion shifts dramatically in favor of Joam Dacosta as the search for Torres's body and the discovery of an indecipherable document raise hopes of his innocence.
What happens
Public opinion shifts dramatically in favor of Joam Dacosta as the search for Torres's body and the discovery of an indecipherable document raise hopes of his innocence. Judge Jarriquez becomes obsessed with cracking the cryptogram, trying various number keys (dates, ages, booty value) without success. In desperation, he calls his servant Bobo to attempt a random selection, but logic fails him.
Themes in this chapter
Justice and Innocence
Public opinion swings from demanding death to believing in Dacosta's innocence; the judge's frantic efforts to decipher the document represent the struggle for true justice.
Deception and Truth
The cryptogram is a puzzle of deception; its truth is hidden in a code that may exonerate Dacosta or be a ruse by Torres.
Mortality and Fate
Dacosta's life hangs on the deciphering of the document; the judge's obsessive work reflects a battle against fate and time.
Characters to notice
- Joam Dacosta
The prisoner whose innocence is now widely believed; his fate hinges on deciphering the document.
- Benito Garral
His struggle with Torres and the subsequent search for the body contributed to the change in public opinion.
- Torres
His corpse was found with the document; the document is not in his handwriting, raising questions about its origin.
- Judge Jarriquez
Obsessively works to decipher the cryptogram, trying multiple number keys; his frustration mounts as logic fails.
- Bobo
The judge's freed negro servant, called in desperation to attempt a random selection for the cipher key.
Key passages
“A complete change took place in public opinion on the subject of Joam Dacosta. To anger succeeded pity.”
The public's view of Joam Dacosta shifted entirely from fury to sympathy.
Describes the reversal of popular sentiment.
“Never had a problem so taken possession of this oddity, and he had thoroughly made up his mind to get at the solution, even if his head exploded like an overheated boiler under the tension of its vapor.”
Judge Jarriquez was so consumed by the puzzle that he was determined to solve it no matter the mental cost.
Highlights the judge's obsessive and almost dangerous fixation.
“Now for chance! Heaven help me now, logic is powerless!”
I'll rely on luck now; reason has failed me.
The judge abandons logical methods and turns to randomness.